Team GB shooting medallist Ed Ling returns from Rio early to help family with harvest on Somerset farm

As other Team GB hopefuls plan to toast success with caipirinhas on the Copacabana, bronze medalist Ed Ling has returned home early from Rio to help with the harvest on his family farm.

The 33-year-old arrived back in Somerset just four days after finishing third in the trap shooting final and jumped behind the wheel of his combine harvester within hours of stepping off a plane.

His first job is bringing in the wheat, followed by barley, peas and potatoes, as well as looking after the cows and chickens.

Ed Ling back on his farm near Wellington, in SomersetCredit:
RUSSELL SACH for The Telegraph

The task ahead could hardly be further removed than the likes of diver Tom Daley, who has told how he "cannot wait" for a cocktail as the party starts after two years of abstinence.

A group of Ling's family and friends were waiting to welcome him home to the village of Nynehead on Thursday night.

Among them was his wife Abbey who had burst into tears when her husband won his medal.

Team GB shooting medallist Ed Ling, with his bronze medal, and his wife Abbey at home in SomersetCredit:
RUSSELL SACH for The Telegraph

Abbey, a five-time British shooting champion herself, missed London 2012 when she was controversially replaced by a rival who was 10 places below her.

Ling has said how combining farming with competitive shooting has helped him keep perspective on life.

"When farming gets too much, I nip away and do some shooting, when the shooting gets too much likewise, and I'm very lucky to be able to do that," he said.

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"Shooting isn't one of those where you have to be intense on it, like all these other athletes, it's as little or as much as you want to do.

"Leading up to big events, I'm pushing and trying to go down there most days just to have a few shots, and then I can go back to work. That's why having a range on the farm is really helpful."

Ed Ling celebrates winning a bronze following the men's trap final at the Olympic Shooting Centre on the third day of the Rio GamesCredit:
David Davies/PA

Ling, who now hopes to go for gold in Tokyo 2020, described how he used his bronze medal to speed his guns through customs.

"Coming back, it was the military police in Brazil and I was like, 'Does this get me through a bit quicker?' Suddenly all the phones came out and they were taking selfies," he said. "It's really nice that when things do go to plan, you get the acknowledgement for it and people are supportive which is really great."

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His wife Abbey's lack of form meant she suffered fresh heartache and missed out on Rio.

The 29-year-old watched her husband on TV with his mother and father Carol and Steven, his brother Theo and sister Bev at their farm in Nynehead, a village near Wellington, in Somerset.